A century after it disappeared, a small group is trying to reintroduce native wild rice to Lake Simcoe.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has spent part of the week in a shallow bay near the mouth of the Talbot River. The water here is less than a metre deep, perfect they say for wild rice.

“If envisioned what it looked like back then I would look at an areas like Cook’s Bay and see vast areas of beautiful wild rice,” says Wil Wegman.

Wegman and his team have been working to re-establish wild rice in the lake since a small patch was discovered in Cook’s Bay seven years ago.

In addition to just being a food source, the rice helps to reduce shoreline erosion and absorbs pollutants like phosphorus and nitrogen.

“Getting that in a large scale along the shoreline helps out in terms of the health of the lake and the water quality that we see,” says Kate Gee.

With help from First Nations and local fishing clubs, the rice is starting to take hold from Georgina Island in the south to Barnstable Bay in the north, where the plant plays yet another role.

While the rice can be a highly prized wild food, harvesting will not be permitted until the plant gets well established in the lake. That will likely take several more years of work.